Silent As Snow
by Dovetale
Summary: Snowkit was born deaf in ThunderClan. When he was only a few moons old, he was snatched up by a hawk that he couldn't hear coming. This is his story. Sorry. I stink at summaries! Rated for blood. Flames will be used to toast marshmallows! :D
1. The Hawk

**(A/N Snowkit was Speckletail's last kit. He was born deaf, and stolen by a hawk a few moons after birth. This is his story.)**

I sat outside the nursery in the midday breeze. I watched the other kits playing around me. The dark tabby tackled the other kits, including his tortoiseshell sister.

I saw her mouth moving in an odd way. It seemed as though all of their mouths were moving! It looked stupid from where I was standing. Nothing happened when they moved their mouths like that, so why bother? Doing things for no reason is dumb. Maybe it was some way to communicate? Like different movements meant different things? I don't know. All that I know is that when mother flicks her tail, I am supposed to come to her.

All of a sudden, something very heavy landed on my back, squishing me under it. How many times did I have to go through this? Would that tom just leave me alone already? I wished I knew the mouth movement language. Then I could tell him to get off of me! I pulled a yowl out from inside my little body, and let it loose. Nothing appeared to have happened, but the kit on top of me seemed to be confused.

Apparently, my yowl attracted more than just the kits' attention. The other kits' mother, the tom with the orange pelt, and my mother came scrambling over to me. The kits' mother moved her mouth in a stern way, as if scolding her kit. He jumped off of my back guiltily. A long conversation in their strange movement language started. I could see that the kit that tackled me had angered his mother.

It ended, and the kit turned to me. His mouth moved again (didn't they know they hadn't taught me what it meant?) and licked my ear in an apologetic way. I guess that meant he was sorry, and I should forgive him. The orange tom said something to Mother, which angered her. This was a new emotion I'd never seen on her face before. It was nothing like when she looked at me. It scared me. Was something wrong?

The three grown cats walked away, their tails swishing. This confused me: did Mother want me to come to her or not?

X

Here's my advice: When the other kits in the nursery are gone, moss is just as fun too! It made me feel like a hunter.

As I was playing with my moss, I felt eyes on my pelt watching me. I looked around, and saw a gray she-cat, Mother, and the same orange tom as last time. They were communicating in that odd mouth-movement way. _Again._ I rolled my blue eyes, and continued playing.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw mother flick her white tail back and forth, telling me to come. I abandoned the soft moss and ran swiftly to her side. She licked me as praise. I felt great because it meant I was being a good kit. I liked being a good kit.

The gray she-cat commanded the orange tom to do something, I think. He obeyed, and turned to me. He tried to talk to me, but I didn't understand anything! I felt so confused and scared! He didn't even help me along like Mother always did! All I could do was sit there looking like a dumb kit.

Eventually, Mother came to my rescue. She flicked her tail, and nodded to the tom. I knew what she meant, so I raced to his side. He said something else, but I still didn't understand. He tried again, forming the words on his tongue. Somewhere, I heard a very faint "Well done." What? Was that it? Was that what the point of all of the stupid movement language? Could people hear you when you did that in their minds? I was intrigued. I tried it back.

"Alright!" I tried to say, using my voice from deep inside me. I guess it didn't come out right, because they all looked confused. Mother looked at the tom angrily, and said something to him. Had I angered her? I hope not. I want to be a good kit!

Another white cat and gray she cat emerged. Either that or they were here all along. I didn't really pay attention. They talked a bit, until Mother stormed off with me back to the nursery. What had happened there?

X

I played with my moss in the middle of camp. The others were tumbling with each other closer to the nursery, but I was out farther away. They didn't like me, and I knew it. They didn't think I played right. I could tell. It wasn't my fault though! I just didn't understand them. At least my moss still liked me.

All of a sudden, I felt terror pulsing through the camp. I saw the others' mother pulling them into the nursery. Everyone ran into shelter. I wondered why. It's not like anything bad was happening! I just kept sitting there. Whatever it was that frightened them, I was tough enough to stay out here. I could even guard them! Too bad I didn't know what I was supposed to guard them from…

Out of the blue (literally) cold, scaly claws gripped at my fur, and not the playful way that the kits do when they played with me. I screeched in pain as they got tighter. My legs kicked and I yowled for help, trying to pull away. Whatever it was was too strong! I felt myself become practically weightless, and the cats below me seemed to get smaller and smaller as the creature holding me lifted me into the air…

**(A/N Help me!! I don't know whether to let him live or not!! Can you please tell me in your reviews?)**


	2. StarClan?

**(A/N Just to let you know, Snowkit can hear things, just VERY close, loud things only. Something like this happens in the story.(StarClan's an automatic exception!)**

**PS: I searched Snowkit in the search box, and almost fell over. Thanks to all the readers that read this story instead of the others. I hope I can make your time spent worthwhile!)**

I stared down helplessly into the camp, yowling in fear and pain. The claws were tight and cold, and the thing holding me would not let go! I saw mother looking up at me. She looked more desperate than I had ever seen her. Something else stirred in her expression.

She scowled, and strength flowed through her body. She leapt, claws unsheathed, from the ground onto the belly of the bird. It slowed, and red trickled from where Mother's claws were gripping. A surge of hope ran through me, but was crushed as her claws gave way, and she fell down onto the hard ground. Her green eyes stared up hopelessly at me, before she collapsed in the dirt.

Even Mother couldn't save me.

The camp began to look tinier and tinier as the bird pulled me higher and higher. I didn't know what he bird wanted with me. All I knew was that he was taking me away from Mother. All of a sudden, a new emotion raced through me. I hated the bird. I _hated_ it.

I kicked, I yowled, I bit, but it was no use. However much I struggled, the bird would not let go. He didn't care about me like Mother did. I went limp, feeling tired and hopeless. Something in the back of my mind screamed "_Don't give up just yet!"_ but I ignored it.

I couldn't breathe. All of a sudden, I couldn't breathe. The bird was flying too high, and I couldn't breathe. What was going on?? The air didn't feel the same, and I was loosing my breath fast. I struggled harder than I had ever struggled before, hoping it would make the hawk go lower. I yowled again.

I didn't get it. Yowling had always worked with the other kits, even if I couldn't understand why. Why not now? Was the bird _stupid_ or something?

All of a sudden, I could breathe again. The air around me seemed to get easier to breathe in. I realized slowly that the hawk was taking me lower and lower, even closer to the ground. Was he going to set me free?

There was a pine tree below us, and it seemed to be heading towards it. Suddenly, he changed course, and swung away from the tree. In the back of my mind, I heard a CRACK! like I had when the orange tom congratulated me. I looked towards the faint noise to see one of the oddest-looking creatures I had ever seen in my life!

It was completely furless, except for a tuft on its head. It was covered in different-colored pelt-things, and the oddest thing of all: _it stood on its hind legs. _What was the point of that? It seemed very hard to do. I noticed something. There was something in its paws, an odd shiny silver thing. Was that the CRACK! I had heard earlier? The creature looked up at me (or was it the dumb bird?) and smiled.

It pointed the shiny thing's muzzle at me. I wondered if it wanted to help me, but I soon gave up on the idea. This creature smirked evilly, like I had seen on the other kits faces when they were being mischievous. It didn't want to help me at all. The creature pushed something on the shiny thing, and another faint CRACK! echoed into my mind.

Something small and fast shot up at me faster than anything I had ever seen before. It missed me by a mouse-tail, but the hawk with me in its claws was not so lucky. The small fast thing pierced into the hawk's feathered wing, red spilling from the wound. The bird's eyes widened with fear, and I felt its grip on me loosen. All I remember was the bird shooting up into the sky where no more small fast things could reach it, and plummeting down to the ground…

Everything was black. I couldn't smell, or feel anything. Just blackness. Numbness washed over me, and I felt like I was floating, perfectly still, but not touching anything.

"Why have you brought him here, Spottedleaf?"

A voice pierced into my head, and I could feel again. I could see, smell, and _feel._ For a split second, pain split my mind into pieces. I writhed uncontrollably, the pain almost too powerful to bear. And then it was gone, just as soon as it started.

I opened my eyes, to see a pretty tortoiseshell she-cat and a tom with an odd ginger tail standing over me. They seemed perfectly normal, except for that they shimmered like stars. I uttered a small shriek of fear, wondering who those two sparkling cats were. I didn't want them. I wanted Mother!

"He was lying in the moor. He was completely ruined! How could I have left him there?" the tortoiseshell answered the tom. He heard her sweet voice in his head, just like the shiny thing and the orange tom. What had changed? Her expression was like Mother when she was worried. "Besides, smell him, Redtail! He's obviously a ThunderClan cat!"

The tom, Redtail, nodded. He bowed his shimmering head in disappointment. "He's much to young to join the ranks of StarClan."

I whimpered, my eyes closing. All I wanted was to be home with Mother, in my soft moss den. Instead, these odd shimmering cats were standing over me talking about me like I wasn't there! I wanted to wail for Mother, but it wouldn't do any good. Nothing I did ever did any good.

The two cats looked over at me, obviously hearing my whimper like I heard them. The tom bent over me and gave my ears a lick with his rough tongue.

"Hello, young Snowkit. I am Redtail, and this is Spottedleaf."

**(A/N NOOOOOOOO!! Before you give up on the story, take this into consideration! The chapters are supposed to end at moments of **_**suspense**_**. What would a story be if the chapters always ended right after an exciting part? It wouldn't be as suspenseful! Just keep reading!)**


	3. Second Chance

**(A/N: Sorry I didn't post for forever!! I couldn't think of any suitable way to write this chapter! But I thought of one, and here ya go!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors. (Except for Dawnpaw. She's mine!))**

I sat in the silence of my new den. Yes, it was soft with leaves and feathers, but I wanted Mother's den more. It had dawned on me earlier: I'd never see her, the gray she-cat, and the orange tom that spoke to me, or even the kits again! I was stuck here – forever it seemed. Sure, it was a beautiful place. Lots of sunlight, loads of mice and rabbits, but Mother, _my_ mother, was far far away. The tortoiseshell she-cat, Spottedleaf, I met earlier was trying her hardest to act motherly to me, but I could tell she had no experience at all.

And the worst bit of it: My white fur was getting sparklier and sparklier every day. I wasn't going to leave.

I looked outside the soft den, the moonlight reflecting off of the starry puddles. Redtail and Spottedleaf sat by the pool, sharing tongues, as they called it. They had told me many stories, about my "Clan" and where I was now: StarClan. I was in the world of the dead. I wanted to wail and scream at the thought of being stuck here, but it wouldn't do any good at all.

I mean, I guess some of it was all right. StarClan's power allowed my ears to work right, because, as Redtail told me, I was born "deaf". Spottedleaf later explained to me that "deaf" meant I couldn't hear while everyone else could. Of course, I didn't think that was very fair at all. Why give everyone else something as cool as hearing but then I don't get any?

_StarClan_ gave me acute hearing. I focused my ears on their light conversation, hoping to hear something even remotely interesting.

"I certainly feel terribly about that little kit." Spottedleaf began, gesturing her head in my direction. I ducked my head quickly, trying not to let the two starry cats know I was listening.

Redtail just rolled his eyes. "What could you do? It's not like you can just take him back. He is a StarClan cat now! See his fur?" he scoffed. "Besides, you can't be the heroine to every single abandoned kit that joins our ranks."

Spottedleaf was silent. Her expression was peaceful and thoughtful. What? I longed to know what she was thinking, especially since they were talking about _me. _

"What about a Second Chance?" she asked, her eyes clouded in a dreamy mist. My eyes widened, wondering what she was talking about. A Second Chance? Huh?

Redtail seemed to know. His eyes widened along with mine. "Spottedleaf, that hasn't been attempted in centuries! Besides, how would he survive?" he asked, his voice surprised.

I saw the tortoiseshell she-cat's pelt quiver with excitement. "You know, the way the stories say. Fate will bring him a guardian." She pushed herself up with a weary groan, but her eyes were still alive with ideas. "Besides, look at Snowkit! He's absolutely miserable in StarClan's hunting grounds!"

Redtail glanced at me, and sighed with dismay. "I was miserable here too. I wasn't able to fight for my clan anymore, after that wretched Tigerclaw killed me," He growled, shaking his head, eyes flooding with memories of that painful time. I strained my ears, since he was whispering now. "-But I learned to live with it."

"Oh, come on! Let's at least see what Sunstar has to say about it!" Spottedleaf practically shouted, her eyes bright and voice filled with enthusiasm. She crouched, and bounded in the direction of the forest.

Sunstar? Who was he? I was so confused by what the full-grown cats were conversing about! All I understood was something about a "Second Chance". Pfft. Well, I'd find out soon enough!

I woke up in my soft burrow with something prodding gently into my side. I groaned, and opened my blue eyes to see what had woken me up. I looked up at a cat I had never seen before. I mean, I had guessed that there were many more cats in StarClan than I'd ever memorize the faces of, but it startled me to see this young starry ginger she-cat staring at me eagerly when I awoke. "Who are you?" I managed to ask, puzzled.

"I'm Dawnpaw! Come on, Snowkit! Sunstar sent me to get ya," she practically yowled into my ear. Someone should really tell her to lay off the catnip or something, because she seemed really… hyper. I shot her a questioning glance, still lying in my mossy bed. "Didn't they tell you? Sunstar, Spottedleaf, and Featherwhisker are gonna be debating whether they give you a Second Chance or not!"

Wait, what? Then it dawned on me. Wasn't the Second Chance what Spottedleaf and Redtail had been discussing earlier? I pushed myself from my soft bed with a groan of annoyance, before wearily padding after Dawnpaw as she bounded out of the den. Dear StarClan, she was fast! I could hardly keep up with Dawnpaw.

The apprentice and I entered an opening in the trees. A lake sat in the middle. Stars reflected in the lake, even though it was nearly sunhigh. A giant rock stood on the edge where the water met the shore, with a star scratched into its face.

On top of the rock sat a regal-looking golden tom and two other cats, only one familiar to me. Spottedleaf was sharing a mouse with a long-furred silver tom. The golden tom turned to look at Dawnpaw and I. She called to him, "Snowkit's here!"

The golden cat nodded to her, sending her racing to who-knows-where. The last I saw of her was her plumed ginger tail flying behind her as she bounded out of sight. I rolled my eyes, and looked up at the golden cat. "Hello, young Snowkit. I am Sunstar; this is Featherwhisker-" he gestured to the silver cat. "-And I believe you know Spottedleaf." He ended, pointing his tail to the tortoiseshell, Spottedleaf. The two cats below him silenced, looking expectantly at Sunstar and I.

"Spottedleaf, you have brought me this young kit with hopes of granting him a Second Chance. As you know, this is a rather unpredictable procedure, and might end up failing." Sunstar paused, looking at me lovingly. "By giving him a Second Chance, you will not be allowed to use this powerful of magic for the rest of your time here in StarClan."

Spottedleaf nodded excitedly, her eyes brightening eagerly. I still didn't know what a Second Chance was... Sunstar continued.

"By granting young Snowkit a Second Chance, you will be giving him the gift of life in the living world. He may never live to see his former Clan again, but will be led by destiny to a Guardian to aid him as he lives." _Oh_, I thought. "Featherwhisker," he said, catching the attention of the silvery cat. "Do you know the ceremony appropriate for this?" he asked.

Featherwhisker nodded. "I believe that this will be the one great opportunity for little Snowkit." Spottedleaf nodded along with Featherwhisker's statement.

Sunstar closed his eyes, expression thoughtful and… sad, almost? "Then it is time. Snowkit, do you accept your Second Chance?" he asked me, power radiating in his voice. I nodded, my eyes wide with confusion. It sounded all right, and I might get to live with Mother again! It was just a little much to understand in just a few hours.

"Then by the power of StarClan, let this young kit's life be restored!" he shouted to the blue sky, before shoving into my side with his nose sending me toppling off of the rock and towards the starry pool. I yowled in fear as I plunged into the water. I could hardly feel it; all I could feel was the sickening feeling of falling, falling, falling…

**(A/N MUAHAHAHA!! Told ya to wait to see what happened to him. ;) Well, it just goes to show that you never know what to expect in a Dovetail fanfiction!**

**PS: Love Dawnpaw. XD I think I'll give her a fanfiction of her own to star in when I finish with this one!)**


	4. Rain

**(OMIGOSH I'M SO SORRY!!! I haven't updated in over a month. I feel like such a bad person. :'( I promise, it won't take me this long to update EVER AGAIN!!!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Warriors, this would have happened in the books: )**

I plummeted, my blue eyes closed tight, terrified of what would happen to me when I hit the ground, if there was any sort of ground here. It felt like I was just falling and falling. I felt almost nauseas and the fall just got faster and faster.

I refused to look down, but eventually my eyes opened to take in what I would hit, and calculate whether or not I would survive. A moment ago, if I had been brave enough to look down, I would have seen… black, and nothing else. Now, I saw a vast plain surrounded by mountains underneath me.

I panicked, waving my legs frantically and crying out, hoping maybe someone in that place they called StarClan would help me. I looked up, but what had originally been starry cats staring down at me was now replaced by cloudless blue sky. My hope had already crashed to the ground, and I waited for my body to do the same. The ground was growing closer, and then it hit.

I was shoved against the swaying heather, my face buried in its leaves. Pain sparked through my body, and I wailed pathetically, waiting for the cats of StarClan to come to me like they did before – the last time I died. But they were nowhere to be found.

The pain left me, scattering all over the heather bushes. I ached, but I wasn't dead, and I was grateful for that. But as soon as I realized that StarClan was not coming to find me, I realized that I was alone.

I began to wail, hoping some cat could hear me. All I wanted was to go home and be with mother. I stopped immediately, my ears pricking. Had I… heard myself? I began to listen again. I heard silence… but not silence. I heard the swishing of the heather, I heard the rabbits' feet pounding on the floor. I _heard_ everything.

Then I heard something I hoped I had never hear: the shrill caw of something above me. I stared up into the blue sky, and whimpered with fear. Above me circled a hawk, just like the one that had… killed me before.

Before I had any time to react, it was swooping at me, screeching its terrible caw. And before I had any time to run, I was grabbed by the scruff and carried away – not by the hawk, but by something that had pulled me out of the way. Something that raced with me in its mouth across the field and away from the beast. Something that had _saved_ me.

It scrambled away from the hawk and ran. It ran for my life, it ran for its life, it ran away. I was thrown into a "den", unable to see my rescuer. All I heard outside was screeching, mad, wild, terrifying screeching. I heard a fight between my rescuer and the terrible hawk. And then, it was silent. I became frightened, shrinking to the den opening and peering outside. My blue eyes could not comprehend what had happened.

On the grassy floor lay the hawk, it's legs sprawled in impossible angles. It was mangled, and obviously dead. Next to it stood a gray cat, probably no older that seven moons. She was covered in scratches, but she stood triumphantly over the hawk. I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude and love for the new cat. She had saved my life from the beast! And she had killed it.

The she-cat began breathing normally again and bent over the hawk. She gripped its wing with her teeth, and began to drag it into the little bramble thicket den. Her gray fur rippled with shock at what she had accomplished- what she had accomplished alone.

Then her golden eyes stared at me, and a look of surprise turned to a scolding glare. "What were you thinking, just sitting there in the middle of the meadow? Couldn't you see that hawk coming? I almost died protecting you from it!" I shrank back, unable to answer her demanding questions.

A whimper escaped my throat, and her hard gaze softened. She sat down, and asked a different question, "What's your name?" She tried to sooth me, but I was still a little scared. I told her my name though. She had saved me from the hawk, and I knew she wouldn't hurt me.

"I'm Snowkit," I whimpered, still startled from all that had happened. Who was this cat? Where was mother??

The cat gave a puzzled look before stating, "That's an odd name. How about I call you Snow instead? My name is Rain." I could easily see why she was named that. Dark spots were scattered over her gray pelt like raindrops. I know why I was called Snowkit, well, Snow. My fur was all white.

I smiled, happy to find someone living to help me. I snuggled up closer to her and sighed, "Hello, Rain." Then I fell into a deep sleep.

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I dreamt that night. I was in an all-too-familiar starry clearing. I closed my eyes in disappointment. _No! _I screamed to myself, for I was sure that I had died in my sleep and was now stuck, again, in StarClan's hunting grounds. I wanted to wail, but I kept silent. My ears pricked as I heard something coming nearer.

Out of the darkness emerged a tortoiseshell I thought I would never have to see again. Spottedleaf smiled and spoke, "Don't worry, young one. This is only a dream. As your life goes on, the cats of StarClan will visit you many times in your sleep." Relief flooded through me, and she continued.

"Your journey has ended, Snowkit. You have found your guardian," she whispered, before fading away into the sky. The starry clearing vanished, and before waking, I heard her clear voice one last time. "I will see you soon, young one."

I awoke in the bramble den, with Rain staring curiously at me. My guardian had indeed come.

**(Sorry if that stunk. Now I have one last thing to say:**

**Who is Rain? Where is she from? How did Rain learn to kill hawks alone? ****Where is Snow? And the final question: WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT???**

**Find out next time!**

**Ahem. Sorry, had to say that… :P**

**- Dovetail)**


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